MUMBAI: Patience, they say, is a virtue. And sometimes, patience pays . Just ask Time Warner’s top five executives who will will walk away with combined exit packages worth $180 million after their company’s merger with AT&T was approved by a federal court. The $85 billion deal between the two giant corportations has been two years in the making.
Among those who hit pay dirt, CEO Jeffrey Bewkes top the list. He will collect close to $97.7 million, according to a report on CNN money. Bewkes received a retention bonus in stock in February 2017. Based on Tuesday’s closing price, he will get shares worth $28 million as part of that bonus. Other than that, the 66-year-old will take home $33.2 million in severance.
Chief financial officer Howard Averill’s exit package is worth about $32.3 million, while Paul Cappuccio, the company's general counsel, will get $26.7 million. Executive vice president of marketing and communications Gary Ginsberg is due $12.2 million, while Carol Melton, executive vice president of global public policy, will get an estimated $11 million.
When the deal between AT&T (T) and Time Warner (TWX) deal was first announced in 2016, Bewkes and the other top executives were each granted retention bonuses. For companies involved in a merger, handing retention bonuses and severance packages to top executives is standard procedure.
However, it must be noted that these executive payouts are tied to the company's performance and depend on when these individials leave the organization. The executives who decide to stay put in the the merged company won’t be given a severance check.
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